Poly Styrene was the first woman of colour in the UK to front a successful rock band. She introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion, using her unconventional voice to sing about identity, consumerism, postmodernism, and everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain, with a rare prescience. As the frontwoman of X-Ray Spex, the Anglo-Somali punk musician was also a key inspiration for the riot grrrl and Afropunk movements. Featuring unseen archive material and rare diary entries narrated by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga, this documentary follows Celeste as she examines her mother’s unopened artistic archive and traverses three continents to better understand Poly the icon and Poly the mother.
Directed by Paul Sng and Celeste Bell Documentary | English | 89 min
The Rolling Stones’ first studio album of the new millennium, 2005’s “A Bigger Bang“, made its mark around the world. It charted in the top five in almost two dozen countries and earned Platinum or Gold certifications in the U.S., U.K., and other international territories. Jagger, Richards, Watts, and Wood supported the album with “A Bigger Bang,the Tour“, between 2005-2007 – and it became the highest-grossing concert tour of all time (until U2 usurped its crown). On February 8th, 2006, the Stones took the proceedings to Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for a massive free concert. That show was captured on film and released to cinemas and DVD while the audio was broadcast on XM Radio. Now, the mega-show is coming to various formats in remixed, re-edited, and remastered form as The Rolling Stones: A Bigger Bang – Live on Copacabana Beach released on July 9th from Eagle Rock Entertainment.
Welcome to Rio De Janeiro and the Rolling Stones’ legendary show in front of 1.5 million people, one of the biggest free concerts in history, The Rolling Stones’ performance on February 18th 2006 was an historic event; a critical moment in Rock ‘n’ Roll history. As Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, and Charlie Watts fire on all pistons from one track to the next, the crowd continues to meet their energy waving Brazilian and British flags while rocking out in the tropical evening sunset. With incredible staging and graphics, this fully restored and remastered concert from their ‘A Bigger Bang’ world tour now includes four previously unreleased tracks; “Tumbling Dice”, “Oh No, Not You Again”, “This Place is Empty” and “Sympathy For The Devil”.
Held on February 8th, 2009 in front of the Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) this legendary Rolling Stones concert will be treated to a physical and digital release, remixed, reissued and remastered. A film that captures one of the greatest free concerts and a critical moment in the history of rock’n’roll”, commented the band.
Scheduled for July 9th, this historic concert will be available in a variety of formats: DVD-2CD, SD BD-2CD, 2DVD-2CD Deluxe, 3LP pressed on blue, yellow and green vinyl, 3LP pressed on transparent vinyl (available only on Sound Of Vinyl and digital.
Mick Jagger’s band has scheduled the release of digital EP for May 28th, which will contain five songs: Sympathy For The Devil, Wild Horses, You Got Me Rocking, Happy and Rough Justice. All were recorded during the concert, with the exception ofRough Justice, which came from a concert in Salt Lake City in 2005. The latter will only be available on deluxe versions.
A limited edition 10″ vinyl picture disc containingRain Fall Down (Live on Copacabana Beach) and Rough Justice (Live In Salt Lake City) was also announced for Record Store Day on June 12th.
Crashing in to the 2021 wave of festival line-up releases, Y Not Festival have proven themselves to be a festival to take note of, with huge headline names and floods of buzzing new talent.
Stereophonics close off the Friday night festivities, with time-tested tunes that showcase exactly what the weekend is all about; shouting along to lyrics you love with your mates and already slightly sun-burnt skin. We can only keep our fingers crossed between now and the late July weekend that the group will play fan favourites, ‘Dakota’ creeping out as the prime example.
Any avid festival goer knows exactly how legendary a Bombay Bicycle performance is; the deceptively melodic tracks gain a new life when live, becoming electric signifiers of a summer in full swing. Just imagine ‘Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)’ reverberating through you as the sun goes down, and try to tell us you don’t instantly want to be at Y Not.
With Blossoms rounding off the Sunday shows, you’re guaranteed a setlist of indie-rock anthems, perfected in performance through years of gigging and lively festival showings. Indie-rock darlings DMA’S also come out of their lock down hiding to join them and once again take to the stage, and we can’t help but anticipate that this might be the most riotous set yet. With both bands having made the most of the more unusual times, we cannot wait to see how they jump guitar-first into their sets.
Early visitors are also treated to a performance by Circa Waves: festival favourites who need no introduction. Their tracks seem ready made for sunny days on a field – a star booking to get even more festival goers set up and raring to go on that earlier night if we’ve ever seen one.
Pale Waves, Sundara Karma, and Jake Bugg join the list, forming a well established rota that know not only how to perform, but how to perform for a festival as lively as this one. The Sherlocks, Jaws, and Bloxx are also set to make an appearance, the latter in particular being famed for outperforming bands miles above them in line-up lists. If you’ve already got your tickets, or are set to get them soon, make a note of Bloxx as a group to catch by any cost.
Big Thief has announced dates for an upcoming North American tour this fall. In addition, they have announced “Liveat The Bunker Studio”, a recording of their 2019 session in Brooklyn, N.Y. Footage of all the songs is also available.
The Brooklyn indie-folk outfit will be back on the road this fall. The band, whose 2020 tour dates were cut short due to the coronavirus, are slated for a busy September, including their recently announced slot at this year’s Governers Ball.
While we’ve gotten sneak peeks from The Bunker Studio in Brooklyn before with the videos for “Not” and “Cattails,” the sheer power and chemistry captured during this session serve as compelling reminders of why Big Thief was one of the Best Live Acts of 2019.
The tour will kick off on September. in Louisville, Ky. at Headliners Music Hall. Other notable shows include a date at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium on September. a performance at New York City’s Governors Ball Music Festival on Sept. 25 and a gig at South Burlington, Vt.’s Higher Ground on Sept. 28. The tour will conclude with an Oct. 1 show in Philadelphia at Union Transfer.
Big Thief is an American indie rock band with folk roots based in Brooklyn, New York, United States. Its members are Adrianne Lenker (guitar, vocals), Buck Meek (guitar, backing vocals), Max Oleartchik (bass), and James Krivchenia (drums). All four members attended the Berklee College of Music, but only formed a group after each had graduated.
Live at The Bunker Studiomostly features songs from Big Thief’s 2019 albums U.F.O.F.and Big Thief, as well as “Black Diamonds” from Capacity. According to a press release, “this collection was originally previewed with live videos of ‘Not’ and ‘Cattails,’ but now the whole session is available to listen to and view.”
Luna was formed in 1991 by Dean Wareham after the breakup of Galaxie 500, with Stanley Demeski of The Feelies and Justin Harwood of The Chills. Guitarist Sean Eden joined in 1994, Lee Wall replaced Demeski on drums in 1997, and Britta Phillips replaced Harwood on bass in 2000. Luna released their final album, Rendezvous, in 2005 after playing their final concert at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. Is “Marquee Moon” the greatest rock song of all time? Perhaps. And this is a worthy cover!
A spine-tingling cover of a drop-dead classic. An audio tour-de-force!
Recorded June, 2020 in Auckland, Austin, Los Angeles and San Francisco – by Lee Wall, Dean Wareham, Sean Eden and Justin Harwood. Mixed by Justin Harwood. “Marquee Moon” written by Tom Verlaine
The Band: Sean Eden: guitars Justin Harwood: bass Lee Wall: drums Dean Wareham: vocal, guitar
Trevor Sensor is a Folk singer from Illinois, who released a strong 2017 Jagjaguwar Records debut, “Andy Warhol’s Dream” with two singles, “High Beams”, “Andy Warhol’s Dream”, and “The Money Gets Bigger”. He followed up the debut with a 5-track EP in 2018. What sets Trevor Sensor apart from the myriad of folk singers is his strong lyrical craft that reviews the woes and dreams of the World, particularly America. With an added charm of excellent music to carry the lyrics where they need to go and a uniquely expressive and memorable voice, Trevor Sensor is a gem in today’s world of folk/rock musicians.
“Chiron, Galactus” is the second single from the album “On Account of Exile Vol.1” to be released June 18th 2021 on High Black Desert Records.
Beginning with a gentle strum before steadily building towards a dramatic crescendo, here is the excellent video premiere of ‘Chiron, Galactus’ by Trevor Sensor, who possesses a voice of outstanding character and emotional power. The surprising source of inspiration for the song was the blood-spattered revenge-horror move ‘Mandy’, starring Nicholas Cage. Sensor had not known what to expect from the film but, after watching it with a group of friends, he was so affected by the tale of violent vengeance that he wrote ‘Chiron, Galactus’ in its entirety in under an hour. He explains: “It’s one of those magic songs that just comes to you. You become a vehicle for whatever strange power that’s out there to work through you. Some deep melancholic anguish rose up in me, and everything came out fully formed. The pain was not subjective, but shared.”
That sense of pain and traumatic loss comes through in both the song and video. Visually simple and direct, the video focuses on Sensor’s portrait, emphasising his vocal, before the camera pans down and we see that he is bound to a chair, unable to prevent the story’s horrific events. Through the lyrical narrative, he takes on the role of Cage’s suffering character, Red, who goes on to seek revenge. The sonic tension matches the sense of threat in the lyrics, sweeping us along in this cinematic tale. Sensor explains the themes of the movie and song: “It functions as this perfect allegory of the dichotomy between those who want to be left alone, and those who can’t leave people alone. Red and Mandy are just trying to get on with their lives peacefully in the woods away from everybody, and these Jesus Freaks and Acid Cannibals barge in destroying their world because of one guy’s fragile ego. That’s pretty much the catalyst to all the problems of the world if you think about it. Those who seek to impose their Will upon others are often the worst of us, because it’s a reflection upon their own character – their insecurity with their own existence. They feel the need to master others because they can’t master themselves.”
On June 18th, Trevor Sensor returns with a new album, “On Account Of Exile, Vol. 1.” This new album will feature new explorations of an America in despair within its song list. For us, we’re excited to get new Trevor Sensor music after this long hiatus. There are two singles out for the album, both which can be heard below.
Trevor Sensor returns with the first single from his forthcoming LP “On Account of Exile Vol.1”
For now, it appears that On Account Of Exile, Vol. 1 will be released via DD.
The 2009 arrival of the debut album from The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart brought the NYC band to the attention of many fans, fans that considered the fresh debut to be one of the albums of the year. That album contained 10 high-powered songs that elevated the album to attention-grabbing status among the indie crowds of NYC and eventually elsewhere. Unfortunately, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart has disintegrated and is seemingly no longer in any forward progression. And while this saddens me, the band was a memorable part of the music of the New Millennium.
On June 25th, Slumberland Records revisits the debut self-titled album by “The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart” on special edition heavy-grade 180g-weight colour vinyl in limited amounts. There will be two editions: a Purple and Pink coloured swirl vinyl LP edition (limited to 500 copies) will be made available; a split black and white coloured vinyl LP (limited to 500 copies) will be made available to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland exclusively. An ultra-rare Yellow vinyl edition was made exclusive to Rough Trade. (At this writing, those were thinning out significantly.)
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Painbow/WB Music Corp Originally Released on: 2009-02-03
A man walks into a bar, and his best friend tells him that his ex-girlfriend is back in town; the man considers the highs and lows of their relationship until she wanders in and he sees her again. Canadian singer-songwriter Andy Shauf’s transfixing latest album is constructed around this narrative, but The Neon Skyline is also about the everyday details that we hold onto, that help define us, and which help us move on from loss. Fans of Sufjan Stevens and Jose Gonzalez should stumble into Shauf’s gorgeously rendered folk-pop storytelling with little hesitation
For nearly ten years, La Blogotheque has changed the way people experience music. We film beautiful, rare and intimate sessions with your favorite artists, and the ones you are soon to fall in love with. Come, stay a while, and be taken away.
All singer-songwriters are storytellers of a sort, but neither term does justice to what Andy Shauf accomplishes on The Neon Skyline Each of its 11 tracks are chapters from the same narrative, vignettes that cohere into something like a novel or an indie film. The arc is simple: guy runs into his ex at the bar, flashes back on falling in and out of love, awkwardly flirts for a while, and heads home. But Shauf ties those scenes together with emotional insight and an artful touch, sound tracked by luscious retro pop-rock arrangements that make the story feel timeless despite its meticulous sense of place.
Andy Shauf released one of 2020’s most highly praised albums, Neon Skyline.
The Dirty Nil have released a mind-expanding animated video for Damage Control. The bandmembers visit a mythical wizard who shows them futures full of brutality, gold records & a plethora of easter eggs. Director and animator Greg Doble says: “Damage Control” is a song that touches upon the both the hard moments in life, as well as our individual perception of those moments. We all want to run ‘damage control’ when things aren’t going our way, but the reality of the situation is different in the minds of each person involved. I was quite drawn to the line ‘beware the things you wanna feel, ‘cause that don’t mean they’re real.’ To me, this line speaks to our ability as people to gravitate towards feelings, or our own personal bias, but in the process losing touch with a shared, concrete reality.”
The Dirty Nil – “Damage Control” Official Music Video Directed and Animated by Greg Doble
The landscape of the Brooklyn music scene is ever changing, but not always for the best. While we’ve seen an uprising in incredible talent, all-out-shake-you-to-your-core performances, and select venues that foster and support the kind of art we want to see in our community, those same venues and artists are struggling to maintain their livelihoods during the current pandemic.
Brooklyn is Burning is a documentary started by filmmaker and photographer A.F. Cortes pre-COVID that has adapted and evolved due to the new challenges the scene is facing. What started as a celebration of the variety and vibrance of the scene, the film will now also focus on the current limbo it is in and strive to support and uplift the artists that it features with fundraising efforts on Kickstarter.
Watching the preview for this made me simultaneously so happy and so heartbroken. What the team behind this has put together thus far is a beautiful snapshot of the colourful world we were so happy (maybe even unappreciative of) living in. It’s a film I’m sure all of us who were in Brooklyn during that time can see ourselves in. We can recognized the shows we were at, the ones we worked, the crowded bar we went to for the after party. While it’s an under five minute preview, the storytelling and cinematography behind it is so powerful it takes you there — a place that you’ve been longing for and missing for so long that to see it in all its glory feels like going home if just for a second.
The film strives to celebrate the diversity of the scene as well and how it has been collectively united during a time of incredible divide in our country. While there is still work to be done in showcasing and supporting BIPOC and LGBTQ+ artists, we’re fortunate to have a scene that is moving in the right direction — something that can be seen in the variety of artists showcased as part of the film.
If you’ve ever had 2 A.M. tacos at The Broadway or stood on a bench at Market Hotel or had one too many extra strong tequila sodas at Alphaville on a Tuesday, do yourself a favor and check out this project and please support it if you can. The scene is the artists, but also the people behind the scenes and the audience at the show. We are all the scene and we should do what we can to support it.
FEATURING: Bambara, Blu Anxxiety, Bodega, CRICKETS, Deli Girls, Dreamcrusher, Jehovah’s Princess, Kill Alters, Lust$ickPuppy, Native Sun, Murder Pact, Sloppy Jane, Stuyedeyed, Surfbort, A Place to Bury Strangers, Public Practice, Uniform and MANY more. —
The Fat Angel Sings 